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AGRICULTURE 


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UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 

Agricultural  Experiment  Station 


BULLETIN  No.  287 


SPRING  WHEAT  PRODUCTION 
IN  ILLINOIS 


BY  ROBERT  W.  STARK 


URBANA,  ILLINOIS,  MARCH,  1927 


SUMMARY 

Spring  wheat  is  grown  to  a  limited  extent  in  all  parts  of  Illinois 
but  is  a  crop  of  some  importance  only  in  the  northern  and  central  sec- 
tions. Data  secured  from  the  DeKalb  and  Urbana  experiment  fields 
indicate  that  it  is  less  remunerative  than  corn  and  winter  wheat  but 
more  profitable  than  oats. 

Marquis  is  recommended  for  both  the  northern  and  central  sec- 
tions. Other  red  spring  varieties  which  in  recent  years  have  given 
satisfactory  yields  are  Blue  Ribbon,  Kota,  and  Progress.  The  latter 
has  been  tested  one  year  only. 

Rate-of-seeding  experiments  have  yielded  variable  results.  The 
Station  uses  approximately  2  bushels  an  acre  in  the  variety  trials  and 
finds  that  a  satisfactory  amount.  Wheat  sown  in  4-inch  drill  rows 
produced  a  three-year  average  of  18.7  bushels  an  acre  compared  with 
16.8  bushels  produced  when  sown  in  8-inch  drill  rows. 

In  date-of-seeding  experiments  conducted  at  Urbana  for  five 
years,  wheat  sown  March  1,  or  as  soon  thereafter  as  possible,  yielded 
more  grain  than  did  the  later  seedings  and  the  grain  was  usually  of 
better  quality. 

Spring  wheat  may  be  advantageously  used  as  a  substitute  for 
winter  wheat  when  weather  conditions  in  the  fall  have  prevented  sow- 
ing the  latter.  Usually  it  is  grown  as  a  substitute  for  oats  and  follows 
corn.  Old  cornstalks  are  infested  with  the  fungus  which  causes  wheat 
scab.  It  is  advisable,  therefore,  either  to  choose  another  place  to  sow 
spring  wheat  or  to  carefully  plow  under  the  stalks. 

The  seed  bed  may  be  prepared  by  thoroly  disking  and  harrowing 
the  ground  if  spring  wheat  is  sown  on  land  which  the  previous  year 
was  in  some  clean  cultivated  crop  such  as  corn  or  soybeans.  A  better 
method,  however,  is  to  first  plow  the  land  and  then  pulverize  and  com- 
pact the  soil  with  a  disk  and  harrow.  The  grain  may  be  sown  either 
with  a  disk  drill  or  an  end-gate  seeder.  The  disk  drill  is  preferable. 

While  spring  wheat  is  a  cool  weather  plant,  grown  chiefly  in  the 
northern  third  of  the  state,  it  may  also  be  grown  with  a  fair  degree  of 
success  on  the  fertile,  well-drained  soils  of  the  central  section  extending 
south  to  an  irregular  and  indefinite  line  drawn  between  Edgar  and 
Pike  counties. 


SPRING  WHEAT  PRODUCTION 
IN  ILLINOIS 

By  ROBERT  W.  STARK,  Associate  in  Crop  Production 

Spring  wheat  is  one  of  the  minor  cereals  produced  in  Illinois.  Not- 
withstanding its  limited  production,  however,  there  continues  to  be 
considerable  interest  manifested  in  the  crop,  judging  by  the  requests 
for  information  about  it  received  by  the  Experiment  Station  each  year. 
Interest  naturally  is  greater  in  years  when  unfavorable  weather  has 
prevented  farmers  from  sowing  their  usual  acreage  of  winter  wheat. 

As  a  cash  grain  crop  spring  wheat  deserves  a  more  important 
place  in  Illinois  agriculture  than  it  now  has.  Illinois  farmers  are  in 
need  of  a  spring-sown  cereal  which  may  displace  at  least  a  portion  of 
the  oat  acreage.  Spring  wheat  is  well  suited  for  this  purpose  since  it 
usually  makes  an  excellent  nurse  crop  for  the  clovers  and  also  is  capa- 
ble, under  favorable  conditions,  of  yielding  a  larger  cash  return  to  the 
acre  than  oats. 

Some  conception  of  the  gross  acre  value  of  spring  wheat  as  com- 
pared with  the  most  important  cereal  crops  produced  in  the  central 
and  northern  sections  of  Illinois,  where  most  of  the  spring  wheat  is 
grown,  may  be  gained  from  Table  1.  On  the  field  at  DeKalb  winter 
wheat  ranks  first  in  gross  acre  value,  corn  second,  spring  wheat  third, 
and  oats  fourth.  The  margin  in  favor  of  spring  wheat  as  compared 
with  oats  amounted  to  nearly  $7  an  acre.  Compared  with  corn,  the 
gross  acre  value  of  spring  wheat  was  only  about  $4.50  less.  It  is 
true  that  the  yield  of  corn  was  considerably  reduced  two  years  of  the 
ten,  because  of  its  immaturity  when  caught  by  freezing  temperatures, 


TABLE  1. — ACRE  YIELDS  AND  VALUES  OF  CEREALS  GROWN  ON  THE  ILLINOIS 
EXPERIMENT  FIELDS  AT  DEKALB  AND  URBANA 


Crop 

Yield  per  acre 

Value  per  acre 

DeKalb 

Urbana 

DeKalb 

Urbana 

Corn  

bu. 
54.9 
35.6 
27.6 
66.8 

bu. 
69.0 
39.1 
24.8 
54.2 

$38.15 
43.34 
33.60 
26.72 

$47.96 
47.60 
30.19 
21.68 

Winter  wheat  

Spring  wheat  

Oats  

The  DeKalb  yields  are  the  averages  for  the  ten-year  period  1915  to  1919  and 
1921  to  1925.  The  Urbana  data  represent  the  ten-year  averages  from  1916  to  1925. 
The  acre  values  are  calculated  from  the  average  estimated  farm  prices  December  1 
during  the  four  years  1922  to  1925.  The  prices  for  these  four  years  are  used  in  order 
to  eliminate  the  abnormally  high  prices  which  existed  during  and  just  after  the  war 
and  the  very  low  prices  at  the  time  of  the  deflation. 


340 


BULLETIN  No.  287 


[March, 


but  this  is  a  hazard  which  has  to  be  reckoned  with  in  northern  Illinois. 
At  Urbana,  located  in  the  heart  of  the  corn  belt,  corn  and  winter  wheat 


*»  I 

1  J (     DOUGLAS 

LoULTWEU? f-H      tDG« 

COLES 


DISTRIBUTION  OF  SPRING  WHEAT  IN  1925 

Spring  wheat  is  grown  chiefly  in  the  northern  third  of  the  state  and 
more  especially  in  the  northeast  district.  It  may  also  be  grown  success- 
fully on  the  fertile  soils  of  the  central  section  as  far  south  as  Douglas, 
Sangamon,  and  Morgan  counties.  On  the  above  map  each  dot  represents 
100  acres.  The  total  area  sown  in  the  state  in  1925  amounted  to  46,000 
acres  and  the  estimated  farm  value,  December  1,  was  $1,334,000.  (Data 
taken  from  Circular  349,  Illinois  Crop  and  Live  Stock  Statistics.) 


19271  SPRING  WHEAT  PRODUCTION  IN  ILLINOIS  341 

were  practically  on  a  par  in  gross  acre  value,  spring  wheat  ranked 
second,  while  oats  yielded  nearly  $8.50  less  than  spring  wheat. 

Inasmuch  as  the  cost  of  growing  an  acre  of  spring  wheat  is  not 
greatly  in  excess  of  that  of  growing  oats,  and  both  crops  require  labor 
at  the  same  season  of  the  year,  a  larger  production  of  spring  wheat  as 
a  substitute  for  oats  in  central  and  northern  Illinois  would  seem  justi- 
fiable. 

VARIETY  TESTS  IN  NORTHERN  ILLINOIS 
DEKALB  IN  DEKALB  COUNTY 

Variety  trials  of  spring  wheat  have  been  conducted  regularly  since 
1915  on  the  crop  experiment  field  at  DeKalb  in  DeKalb  county. 

On  this  field  spring  wheat  is  grown  in  a  four-year  rotation  con- 
sisting of  corn,  spring  cereals  (oats,  spring  wheat,  and  barley),  win- 
ter wheat,  and  alsike  clover.  The  soil  is  a  fertile,  dark-colored  silt- 
loam  characteristic  of  much  of  that  section.  In  this  rotation  spring 
wheat  follows  corn,  and  it  has  been  the  practice  to  plow  the  field  in 
preparation  for  the  spring  cereals.  If  possible,  the  plowing  was  done 
in  the  fall  after  the  corn  was  husked.  The  grain  was  sown  with  an 
8-inch  disk  drill.  The  usual  rate  of  seeding  has  been  with  the  gage  set 
to  sow  two  bushels  of  seed  to  an  acre. 

In  these  trials  Marquis  (Tables  2  and  3)  has  out-yielded  all  other 
varieties  grown  for  two  years  or  more.  It  has  proved  to  be  adapted  to 
a  wide  range  of  conditions,  having  been  reported  grown  in  all  the 
northern  and  central  states  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  coasts. 
Abundant  supplies  of  seed  are  available.  It  is  also  a  good  milling 
wheat  and  has  a  reputation  for  producing  flour  of  excellent  quality. 

Progress  has  made  an  excellent  preliminary  showing.  It  was 
grown  on  the  DeKalb  field  for  the  first  time  in  1926  and  made  the 
highest  yield  of  any  variety.  It  ripened  earlier  than  Marquis  and 
contained  much  less  scab.  It  would  be  unwise,  however,  to  draw  defi- 
nite conclusions  from  one  year's  experience  with  it. 

Blue  Ribbon  made  excellent  yields  also.  It  was  discontinued 
after  two  years  because  of  its  resemblance  to  Illinois  No.  1. 

Seed  of  the  Kota  variety,  secured  from  the  North  Dakota  Ex- 
periment Station  in  1924,  gave  satisfactory  yields  but  they  were  not 
equal  to  the  yields  of  Marquis.  In  1925  a  second  lot  of  Kota  wheat  of 
exceptional  quality  was  purchased  from  the  same  source.  Sufficient 
seed  was  secured  to  sow  in  1925  and  again  in  1926.  This  second  lot 
nearly  equaled  Marquis  in  average  yield  during  the  two  years. 

At  this  same  time  a  quantity  of  Marquis  wheat  also  was  pro- 
cured from  the  North  Dakota  Station.  This  was  good  seed  but  not 
nearly  so  attractive  in  appearance  as  the  Kota.  In  neither  1925  nor  in 
1926  was  the  crop  from  it  so  large  as  that  produced  by  the  original 
stock  of  Marquis  which  was  continuously  grown  in  these  experiments 
and  used  as  the  standard  for  comparison. 


342 


BULLETIN  No.  287 


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SPRING  WHEAT  PRODUCTION  IN  ILLINOIS 


343 


TABLE  3. — DEKALB  FIELD:    COMPARABLE  AVERAGE  YIELDS  OF  VARIETIES  OF 
SPRING  WHEAT  USING  MARQUIS  AS  A  STANDARD  FOR  COMPARISON 

(Bushels  per  acre) 


Varieties 

Number 
of  years 
com- 
pared 

Years  on  which  comparisons 
are  based 

Average 
yield 

Marquis  

9 

1917-1926  except  1920 

26  1 

Illinois  No.  1  

9 

1917-1926  except  1920     .  .   

24.9 

Marquis  

5 

1915-1919  

31.6 

Bluestem  

5 

1915-1919  

21.7 

Marquis  

5 

1917-1922  except  1920  .  . 

24.8 

Durum  

5 

1917-1922  except  1920  .    . 

23.2 

Marquis  

5 

1921-1925 

23.6 

Wisconsin  Wonder  

5 

1921-1925  

17.6 

Marquis  

3 

1924-1926.  . 

27.5 

Kota  

3 

1924-1926  

24.6 

Marquis  

2 

1923,  1924.. 

29.7 

Blue  Ribbon  

2 

1923,  1924  

29.0 

Marquis  

2 

1925,  1926  

25.9 

Kota  (N.  D.  grown)  

2 

1925,  1926  

25.0 

Marquis  (N.  D.  grown)   .  .  . 

2 

1925,  1926  

23.0 

Marquis  

1 

1921  .              

10.6 

Red  Bobs  

1 

1921      

7.2 

Velvet  Chaff  ..     . 

1 

1921      .              

9.1 

Marquis 

1 

1926     

24.5 

White  Australian 

1 

1926     

22.6 

Progress  

1 

1926  

28.2 

At  Urbana  spring  wheat  is  grown  in  a  four-year  rotation  of  corn 
for  two  years,  spring  cereals,  and  red  clover.  The  soil  is  a  fertile, 
dark-colored  silt  loam  representing  large  areas  in  central  Illinois. 
Marquis  has  competed  on  this  field  with  practically  the  same  varieties 
as  at  DeKalb.  It  has  been  exceeded  in  yield  by  Illinois  No.  1,  White 
Australian,  Durum,  and  Wisconsin  Wonder  (Tables  4  and  5). 

Illinois  No.  1  has  the  highest  rating  for  yield.  Over  a  period  of 
twelve  years  it  has  averaged  1.7  bushels  an  acre  in  excess  of  Marquis. 
While  the  yearly  differences  have  not  been  great,  they  have  been  fairly 
consistent,  Marquis  having  been  outyielded  in  nine  years  of  the  twelve. 
From  information  now  available  choice  of  varieties  for  central  Illinois 
lies  between  these  two  varieties.  It  should  be  noted,  however,  that 


344 


BULLETIN  No.  287 


[March, 


TAZ.LE  4.  —  URBAN  A  FIELD:  ANNUAL  YIELDS  OF  VARIETIES  OF  SPRING  WHEAT  AND  PERCENTAGE  RATINGS 
USING  MARQUIS  AS  THE  STANDARD  FOR  COMPARISON 
(Bushels  per  acre) 

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eties  divided  by  the  average  yield 

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the  quality  of  the  resulting  crop. 

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was  secured  from  the  North  Dakota  E 
seed  as  to  determine  the  effect  of  a  ch 
le  home-grown  seed  each  year. 

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•Marquis is  taken  as  the  standard  for  comparison,  its  rating 
of  Marquis  for  the  same  years  represents  their  ratings. 
Sin  1925,  a  sufficient  quantity  of  Kota  and  Marquis  wheat 
was  not  so  much  to  test  the  yielding  ability  of  northern-grown 
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1927] 


SPRING  WHEAT  PRODUCTION  IN  ILLINOIS 


345 


TABLE  5. — URBANA  FIELD:  COMPARABLE  AVERAGE  YIELDS  OF  SPRING  WHEAT 
USING  MARQUIS  AS  A  STANDARD  FOR  COMPARISON 

(Bushels  per  acre) 


Varieties 

Number 
of  years 
com- 
pared 

Years  on  which  comparisons 
are  based 

Average 
yield 

Marquis  .  .        

12 

1915-1926 

21  8 

Illinois  No.  1  ... 

12 

1915-1926 

23  5 

Marquis  

9 

1915-1923  

18.5 

Durum  

9 

1915-1923  

18.7 

Marquis  

6 

1915-1920   

22.8 

Red  Fife  

6 

1915-1920  

16.8 

Marquis  .    . 

5 

1921-1925   

18.2 

Wisconsin  Wonder.      .    . 

5 

1921-1925       

18.3 

Marquis  .    . 

4 

1923-1926         .            

27.3 

White  Australian 

4 

1923-1926      .               

28.5 

Marquis. 

3 

1923-1925                                 .... 

24.9 

Blue  Ribbon 

3 

1923-1925 

22.3 

Marquis  

3 

1924-1926   

31.8 

Kota  

3 

1924-1926   

27.3 

Marquis. 

2 

1925-1926   

30.9 

Marquis  (N.  D  seed) 

2 

1925-1926       

27.9 

Kota  (N.  D.  seed) 

2 

1925-1926         

29.7 

Marquis 

1 

1926                     

34.4 

Progress 

1 

1926                     

33.1 

Dicklow  

1 

1926  

19.5 

Progress,  grown  for  the  first  time  in  1926,  appears  promising.  It 
yielded  nearly  as  much  as  Illinois  No.  1  and  produced  grain  of  excel- 
lent quality  testing  63.3  pounds  to  the  bushel. 

A  practical  drawback  to  Illinois  No.  1,  however,  is  that  it  is  al- 
most impossible  to  secure  seed.  The  Experiment  Station  has  distrib- 
uted small  quantities  from  time  to  time,  but  has  been  unable  to  keep 
a  record  of  the  growers.  Few  farmers  grow  spring  wheat  continuously, 
and  hence  stocks  are  easily  lost.  Apparently  some  of  the  wheat  being 
grown  in  the  state  under  the  name  Illinois  No.  1  came  from  some 
source  other  than  the  Experiment  Station. 

Illinois  No.  1  is  a  mixture  of  two  varieties,  a  white  chaff  and  a 
brown  chaff  variety,  both  bearded.  A  mass  selection  of  each  of  these 
varieties  has  been  made  and  it  is  proposed  to  test  them  thoroly.  If  one 
or  both  of  these  maintain  the  record  made  by  the  mixture,  it  is  hoped 
that  it  may  be  possible  to  distribute  pure  seed  within  a  few  years. 

Wisconsin  Wonder  is  an  early  variety  of  only  medium-yielding 
capacity.  Its  relatively  high  average  yield  during  the  five-year  period 


346 


BULLETIN  No.  287 


[March, 


it  was  grown  was  due  to  its  early  maturity  in  1923.  That  year  the 
spring  wheat  varieties  were  cut  early  (some  of  them  when  very  im- 
mature) in  order  to  get  the  grain  off  the  land  and  permit  the  destruc- 
tion of  chinch  bugs.  Because  of  its  earliness  and  short  straw,  it  is  an 
excellent  variety  to  use  as  a  nurse  crop. 

Durum  wheat  has  given  quite  satisfactory  yields  both  at  Urbana 
and  at  DeKalb.  It  does  not  seem  advisable,  however,  to  recommend 
it  for  Illinois.  Durum  does  not  usually  bring  as  good  a  price  as  the 
ordinary  bread  wheats  and  if  mixed  with  other  classes  of  wheat  would 
lower  their  value. 

White  Australian  seems  very  well  adapted  to  the  central  section 
of  the  state.  It  is  a  white  wheat,  however,  and  practically  no  white 
wheat  is  at  present  grown  in  Illinois.  Unless  grown  in  sufficient  quan- 
tity and  shipped  in  carlots,  it  would  find  its  way  to  market  mixed  with 
red  wheat,  thereby  lowering  the  class  and  the  price  of  the  whole.  Un- 
less the  growing  of  this  variety  should  become  an  established  custom 
in  certain  localities,  it  seems  doubtful  whether  it  would  be  advisable  to 
grow  it  at  all  in  Illinois. 


RATE  OF  SEEDING 

Experiments  have  been  conducted  at  DeKalb  and  at  Urbana  to 
determine  the  rate  of  seeding  that  will  give  the  greatest  net  yield.  The 
results  obtained  were  somewhat  erratic.  Apparently  considerable  vari- 
ation in  the  amount  of  seed  sown  will  not  greatly  affect  the  net  yield. 
In  the  ordinary  routine  testing  of  varieties  of  spring  wheat  it  is  the 
practice  of  the  Station  to  set  the  drill  gage  to  sow  2  bushels  an  acre. 


DISTANCE  OF  SPACING  ROWS 

In  a  test  of  the  relative  merits  of  sowing  wheat  in  drill  rows  4 
inches  apart  and  8  inches  apart,  conducted  at  Urbana  for  three  years 
with  Marquis,  the  4-inch  drill  rows  gave  the  slightly  higher  yield, 
producing  a  three-year  average  of  18.7  bushels  an  acre  as  against  16.8 
bushels  with  the  8-inch  drill  rows  (Table  6) . 


TABLE  6. — URBANA  FIELD:     YIELDS  OBTAINED  BY  SOWING  MARQUIS  SPRING 
WHEAT  IN  4-lNCH  AND  IN  8-lNCH  DRILL  Rows 

(Bushels  per  acre) 


Distance  between  drill  rows 

1919 

1920 

1921 

Average 

4  inches  

19.1 

14.2 

22.9 

18.7 

8  inches  

16.9 

11.9 

21.5 

16.8 

1527] 


SPRING  WHEAT  PRODUCTION  IN  ILLINOIS 


347 


DATE  OF  SEEDING  SPRING  WHEAT 

The  importance  of  sowing  spring  wheat  early  was  demonstrated 
by  a  series  of  date  of  seeding  experiments  conducted  at  Urbana  from 
1918  to  1922.  In  these  experiments  the  first  sowings  were  made  as 
early  in  March  as  the  condition  of  the  soil  would  permit  seeding  with 
a  drill.  Thereafter  seedings  were  made  at  intervals  of  as  near  to  ten 
days  as  soil  and  weather  conditions  allowed.  Close  adherence  to  a 
definite  time  schedule  was  impossible,  owing  to  the  condition  of  the 
soil.  At  times  the  last  seeding  was  delayed  until  the  latter  part  of 
April,  altho  it  was  intended  to  sow  not  later  than  the  first  week  of 
April. 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  highest  yield  made  by  both  Marquis 
and  Illinois  No.  1  was  secured  each  year  from  the  first  seeding  (Table 
7).  Not  only  was  there  a  progressive  decrease  in  yield  with  later 
seedings,  but  the  quality  of  the  crop  usually  declined,  as  shown  by 
the  weight  per  bushel. 

During  the  five-year  period  covered  by  these  tests,  the  average 
date  of  the  first  seedings  was  March  6.  The  average  yields  resulting 
were  24.9  bushels  an  acre  with  Marquis  and  26.4  bushels  with  Illinois 


TABLE  7. — URBANA  FIELD:  EFFECT  OF  DATE  OF  SEEDING  UPON  THE 
YIELD  AND  QUALITY  OF  SPRING  WHEAT 


Year 

Date  of 
seeding 

Marquis 

Illinois  No.  1 

Yield 
per  acre 

Test 
weight 
per  bushel 

Scab 
infection 

Yield 
per  acre 

Test 
weight 
per  bushel 

Scab 
infection 

bu. 

Ibs. 

perct. 

bu. 

Ibs. 

perct. 

1918 

March  6 

29.6 

59.0 

2.0 

28.9 

60.8 

1.0 

1918 

March  16 

27.3 

58.0 

6.0 

23.5 

59.4 

.8 

1918 

March  29 

23.8 

56.5 

7.4 

21.8 

58.8 

5.6 

1918 

April  10 

22.2 

54.8 

14.8 



1919 

March  7 

21.1 

53.2 

17.6 

56.4 

1919 

March  21 

18.5 

53.1 

17.0 

56.1 

1919 

March  28 

18.2 

53.0 

14.6 

56.0 

1919 

Aprils 

10.6 

53.5 

12.9 

55.1 

1920 

March  2 

26.2 

59.6 

31.9 

60.2 

1920 

April  15 

22.4 

57.9 

26.4 

59.3 

•  •    « 

1920 

April  23 

20.7 

58.0 

19.5 

58.3 

... 

1921 

March  1 

27.8 

54.9 

30.3 

57.4 

1921 

March  11 

24.3 

54.3 

26.7 

56.8 

1921 

March  22 

15.9 

52.0 

20.4 

56.3 

1921 

April  1 

8.9 

50.3 



14.9 

55.0 

... 

1922 

March  13 

19.8 

55.3 

23.1 

58.5 

1922 

April  24 

.3 

.7 

348  BULLETIN  No.  287  [March, 

No.  1.  The  average  yield  produced  by  seed  sown  at  the  normal1  date 
(about  April  5)  was  16.0  bushels  for  Marquis  and  16.4  bushels  for 
Illinois  No.  1. 

Danger  of  serious  scab  infection  also  becomes  greater  when  the 
date  of  heading  is  delayed  by  late  seeding.  Marquis  sown  March  6, 
1918,  showed  2  percent  scab  infection.  The  amount  of  infection  in- 
creased with  each  advance  in  the  date  of  seeding  until  that  sown  on 
April  10  contained  14.8  percent  infected  heads.  Illinois  No.  1  exhib- 
ited the  same  condition  tho  not  to  the  same  degree.  There  is  some 
evidence  that  it  is  not  so  susceptible  to  scab  infection  as  is  Marquis. 

While  it  is  strongly  recommended  that  spring  wheat  be  sown  as 
early  in  the  season  as  the  condition  of  the  soil  will  permit,  it  does  not 
necessarily  follow  that  a  failure  will  result  from  later  seedings.  The 
average  date  of  sowing  spring  wheat  in  the  variety  trials  at  Urbana 
during  the  years  1915  to  1926  was  April  1.  The  average  yield  of 
Marquis  during  these  years  was  21.8  bushels  an  acre,  while  that  of 
Illinois  No.  1  was  23.5  bushels.  At  DeKalb,  the  average  date  of  seed- 
ing during  the  same  period  was  April  16.  On  this  field  Marquis  aver- 
aged 26.1  bushels  an  acre  and  Illinois  No.  1,  24.9  bushels.  The  seasons 
at  DeKalb  are  normally  about  one  week  later  than  at  Urbana. 


PLACE  OF  SPRING  WHEAT  IN  THE  ROTATION 

j 

Spring  wheat  may  be  used  at  any  place  in  the  rotation  where  it  is 
desired  to  grow  a  small  grain.  It  may  at  times  prove  a  desirable  sub- 
stitute for  winter  wheat  when  weather  conditions  the  fall  before  pre- 
vent seeding  the  latter.  It  is,  however,  usually  sown  as  a  substitute 
for  oats  following  corn.  In  the  latter  case  there  is  considerable  danger 
of  serious  scab  infection  unless  the  cornstalks  are  removed  or  plowed 
under.  Scab  is  produced  by  the  fungus  Gibberella  saubinetii,  which 
also  causes  one  form  of  root  and  stalk  rot  of  corn.  Old  cornstalks  in- 
fested with  the  fungus  are  one  of  the  important  sources  of  spores. 
These  spores  are  distributed  by  the  wind.  Many  of  them  lodge  on  the 
immature  heads  of  wheat  where,  under  proper  climatic  conditions,  they 
grow,  causing  scab.  Data  secured  during  a  season  of  serious  scab  in- 
fection showed  that  Illinois  No.  1  was  the  least  susceptible  of  the  vari- 
eties being  tested  that  year.  The  varieties  ranked  in  the  following 
order  of  susceptibility:  Illinois  No.  1,  White  Australian,  Progress, 
Kota,  Marquis. 


'Except  during  the  first  year,  this  date-of-seeding  experiment  was  conducted 
on  the  same  series  of  plots  on  which  varieties  of  spring  wheat,  barley,  and  certain 
of  the  oats  were  grown.  The  date  on  which  the  grain  in  the  variety  tests  was 
sown  is  taken  as  the  normal  time  of  seeding. 


1927]  SPRING  WHEAT  PRODUCTION  IN  ILLINOIS  349 

PREPARATION  OF  SEED  BED  AND  METHOD  OF  SOWING 

The  ideal  seed  bed  is  one  prepared  as  for  winter  wheat;  i.e.,  the 
ground  is  plowed  and  all  trash  turned  under,  the  soil  thoroly  pulver- 
ized and  compacted  below,  and  the  surface  soil  made  fine  and  loose. 
Such  a  condition  seldom  can  be  secured  without  considerable  delay  in 
seeding  unless  the  land  has  been  plowed  the  fall  before.  In  this  case 
double-disking  and  harrowing  in  the  spring  should  put  the  soil  in 
good  condition. 

It  is  particularly  desirable,  in  the  preparation  of  old  corn  ground 
for  spring  wheat,  that  the  stalks  be  well  turned  under  with  the  plow. 
If  the  ground  has  not  been  fall-plowed,  valuable  time  may  be  saved  in 
the  spring  by  thoroly  disking  and  harrowing  without  previous  plow- 
ing. This  method  of  preparing  old  corn  ground  for  spring  wheat  will, 
however,  afford  a  greater  chance  for  serious  scab  infection. 

A  more  even  distribution  of  the  seed  and  a  more  uniform  cover- 
ing may  be  secured  by  sowing  spring  wheat  with  a  disk  drill.  This, 
however,  calls  for  a  fairly  well-prepared  seed  bed.  In  order  to  get  the 
wheat  sown  early,  it  may  therefore  at  times  prove  advisable  to  sow 
with  an  end-gate  seeder  and  cover  with  a  disk  and  harrow. 


WHERE  MAY  SPRING  WHEAT  BE  GROWN 

History  records  that  spring  wheat  was  the  type  of  wheat  grown 
by  the  early  French  colonists  who  settled  on  the  Mississippi  bottom 
lands  in  Madison,  St.  Clair,  and  Randolph  counties.  Eventually  it 
was  replaced  by  winter  wheat.  Government  statistics,  however,  indi- 
cate that  spring  wheat  is  still  grown  to  some  extent  thruout  the  length 
and  breadth  of  the  state.  It  is,  however,  a  cool-weather  plant  and 
needs  to  make  its  growth  largely  before  hot  weather  sets  in.  Hence  it 
is  now  and  probably  will  continue  to  be  grown  chiefly  in  the  northern 
section  of  the  state.  This  section  may  be  approximately  located  north 
of  a  line  drawn  between  the  southern  boundaries  of  Kankakee  and 
Mercer  counties. 

Spring  wheat  may  also  be  grown  with  considerable  success  on  the 
fertile,  well-drained  soils  of  the  central  section,  extending  south  to  a 
somewhat  indefinite  line  drawn  between  Edgar  and  Pike  counties. 
South  of  this  line,  except  on  relatively  small  areas,  it  usually  is  im- 
possible to  sow  it  sufficiently  early  on  account  of  the  excessive  moisture 
in  the  soil.  Moreover,  most  varieties  mature  several  days  later  than 
winter  wheat,  and  therefore  are  more  likely  to  be  injured  by  hot 
weather  and  fungous  diseases  and  by  chinch  bugs,  which  are  always 
present  in  some  parts  of  this  section. 


350  BULLETIN  No.  287  [M arch, 

DESCRIPTION  OF  VARIETIES1 
Including  Origin  and  Performance2  on  Experiment  Fields 

Blue  Ribbon.  Synonym  for  Preston.  Straw  white  or  faintly  purple;  head 
bearded;  chaff  white,  glabrous;3  kernels  red,  hard. 

Originated  by  Dr.  William  Saunders  at  the  Central  Experimental  Farm, 
Ottawa,  Canada,  in  1888,  from  a  cross  between  Ladoga,  a  Siberian  wheat,  and 
Red  Fife. 

Yields:  two-year  average  at  DeKalb  29.0  bushels,  Marquis  29.7;  three-year 
average  at  Urbana  22.3  bushels,  Marquis  24.9. 

Bluestem.  Synonym  for  Haynes  Bluestem.  Straw  white,  long,  medium 
strong;  heads  smooth;  chaff  white,  pubescent  or  hairy,  kernels  red,  hard. 

Selected  by  Mr.  L.  H.  Haynes  of  Fargo,  North  Dakota,  about  1895  from  a 
field  of  wheat  known  as  Bluestem  which  had  become  mixed  with  soft  and  bearded 
varieties. 

Yield:  five-year  average  yield  at  DeKalb  21.7  bushels,  Marquis  31.6. 

Dicklow.  Straw  white,  strong,  coarse;  head  smooth;  chaff  white,  glabrous; 
kernels  white  and  soft. 

Originated  by  Mr.  Richard  Low  of  Utah  county,  Utah,  from  a  selection 
made  from  Surprise. 

Yield:  grown  one  year  at  Urbana  19.5  bushels,  Marquis  34.4.  Variety  late 
and  proved  particularly  susceptible  to  scab. 

Durum.  Variety  unknown,  probably  Kubanka.  Straw  long,  white;  heads 
bearded;  chaff  yellowish,  glabrous;  kernels  large  and  amber  in  color. 

Kubanka  was  introduced  from  Russia. 

Yields:  nine-year  average  at  Urbana  18.7  bushels,  Marquis  18.5;  five-year 
average  at  DeKalb  232  bushels,  Marquis  24.8. 

Illinois  No.  1.  Mixture  of  two  varieties,  one  white  chaff,  the  other  brown 
chaff,  both  bearded ;  straw  medium  strong ;  kernels  red ;  midseason. 

Originated  from  seed  secured  in  1912  from  a  Champaign  county  farmer  who 
had  grown  it  successfully  for  a  number  of  years. 

Yield:  twelve-year  average  at  Urbana  23.5  bushels,  Marquis  21.8;  nine-year 
average  at  DeKalb  24.9  bushels,  Marquis  26.1. 

Eota.  Straw  white,  weak  to  medium  strong;  head  bearded;  chaff  white, 
glabrous;  kernels  red,  hard. 

Introduced  into  North  Dakota  from  Russia;  was  selected  from  a  lot  of 
Durum  wheat  and  found  to  be  resistant  to  certain  forms  of  rust  and  to  produce 
flour  of  good  quality. 

Yield:  three-year  average  at  Urbana  27.3  bushels,  Marquis  31.8;  three-year 
average  at  DeKalb  24.6  bushels,  Marquis  27.5. 

Marquis.  Straw  white  to  yellowish,  medium  tall,  very  strong;  heads  smooth; 
chaff  white,  glabrous;  kernels  red,  short,  hard. 

Originated  by  a  cross  made  under  the  direction  of  Dr.  William  Saunders, 
Central  Experimental  Farm,  Ottawa,  Canada.  The  parents  were  Hard  Red  Cal- 
cutta and  Red  Fife.  Selected  and  propagated  largely  because  of  its  excellent 
bread-making  qualities;  it  was  found  to  be  productive  and  adapted  to  a  wide 
range  of  conditions. 

*For  description  of  varieties  and  history  of  their  origin,  the  writer  has  drawn  freely  upon 
Bulletin  1074  of  the  U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture,  "Classification  of  American  Wheat  Varie- 
ties," by  J.  Allen  dark,  John  H.  Marten,  and  Carleton  R.  Ball.  1922. 

2  All  yields  are  given  in  terms  of  bushels  an  acre.  All  comparisons  are  based  on  averages  of 
the  same  season. 

•Glabrous  mean*  free  from  hairs,  differing  from  pubescent,  which  causes  the  chaff  to  appear 
velvety. 


1927~\  SPRING  WHEAT  PRODUCTION  IN  ILLINOIS  351 

Yield:  twelve-year  average  at  Urbana  21.8  bushels;  eleven-year  average  at 
DeKalb  27.3  bushels. 

Progress.  Straw  white,  medium  strong;  heads  bearded;  chaff  white,  gla- 
brous; kernels  red,  soft;  medium  early. 

Selected  in  1916  from  a  field  of  Java  by  E.  J.  Deliviche  of  the  Department 
of  Agronomy  of  the  University  of  Wisconsin.  Under  Wisconsin  conditions  proved 
superior  to  Marquis  in  yield. 

Yield:  one  year  at  Urbana  33.1  bushels,  Marquis  34.4;  one  year  at  DeKalb 
28.2  bushels,  Marquis  24.5. 

Red  Bobs.  Straw  white,  strong;  head  smooth;  chaff  white,  glabrous;  kernels 
hard,  red. 

Selected  by  Mr.  Seager  Wheeler  of  Rosthern,  Saskatchewan,  in  1910  from 
a  field  of  Bobs,  a  white  wheat. 

Yield:  grown  one  year  at  DeKalb,  produced  7.2  bushels,  Marquis  10.6. 

Red  Fife.  Straw  white,  strong;  head  smooth;  chaff  white,  glabrous;  kernels 
red,  short  to  midlong,  hard. 

Selected  about  1842  by  Mr.  David  Fife  of  Otonabee,  Ontario,  from  a  small 
sample  of  winter  wheat  sown  in  the  spring. 

Yields:  six-year  average  at  Urbana  16.8  bushels,  Marquis  22.8. 

White  Australian.  Synonym  for  Pacific  Bluestem.  Straw  white,  strong; 
head  smooth;  chaff  yellowish  white,  glabrous;  kernels  white,  soft  to  semi-hard. 

Introduced  into  California  from  Australia  sometime  during  the  fifties.  Ap- 
parently identical  with  the  White  Lammas,  at  that  time  the  most  important 
wheat  grown  in  Australia. 

Yield:  four-year  average  at  Urbana  28.5  bushels,  Marquis  27.3. 

Wisconsin  Wonder.  Synonym  for  Prelude.  Straw  white,  sometimes  slightly 
purple,  short,  strong ;  heads  bearded ;  chaff  yellowish,  pubescent  (velvet  chaff) ; 
kernels  red,  short,  hard;  very  early  maturing. 

Originated  by  Dr.  C.  E.  Saunders  at  the  Central  Experimental  Farm,  Ot- 
tawa, Canada.  It  is  the  result  of  a  number  of  successive  crosses.  The  parent 
varieties  are  Ladoga,  White  Fife,  Hard  Red  Calcutta,  and  Gehun. 

Yield:  five-year  average  at  Urbana  18.3  bushels,  Marquis  18.2;  five-year 
average  at  DeKalb  17.6  bushels,  Marquis  23.6. 

Velvet  Chaff.  Probably  another  name  for  Haynes  Bluestem.  Grown  but 
one  year  at  DeKalb. 

Yield:  9.1  bushels,  Marquis  10.6. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS-URBANA 


